Musicians And That Pesky Thing I Like to Call Emotions

Dedicated to all the contestents on First Tracks that I have connected with and all other entries....

I decided to write this article because as First Tracks moves toward the close of the contest, emotions are running high for all those involved. It almost seems as though it is the political campaign that America is watching. Every listener on gather has a favorite musician and everyone is entitled to their thoughts. Now that being said, as a musician who doesn't feel like posting her musical work for all to judge, I feel that it is time to address the contest and why someone might remove a negative comment and a more personal alternative. You may agree or disagree and that is fine. In the end you can gain gather points and a friend. Just a few methods I use to make my gather experience fun.

Call it what you will, but the page that someone creates is their page. Plain and simple, they can choose the content that appears on their item that they submitted. Why does this bother people? Probably because they feel that they have a valid comment. Yes, they are correct and that is true. Personally, I would never post a negative comment on someone's artistic endeavor because even though I don't like it--that doesn't mean that someone else doesn't. Also, a public display of disparaging comments is often perceived as hurtful, even if the other person doesn't care what you think. If I don't like the what was posted and feel strongly that the said item offends me, I would send an email to that person. The old rule of don't send that email out for a while holds true for me. I've learned over the years on the internet that sending an email is final and you may never get a chance to defend yourself.

Now, imagine yourself seeing a coment that is hurtful to you. Why would you want to stare at that comment, let alone have your friends see that comment? You might just be tough as nails, but this contest is a business for the contestants. As a business would you want the negative comment to detract from your product? This contest is about "gathering" support and the music is the product that they are giving us a chance to listen to. I know this sounds preachy, but we have to remember that the person who is performing has feelings too. Often times, the situation gets out of hands on these social networks because people can't always express exactly what they want to say. The bottom line is that a negative comment, in my opinion is best suited in an email if you have to say something.

It always amazes me that people are talking about the mass emails, methods of garnering support and cheating. The mass emails are done because the artist/artists are proud of their work and feel that they are in a position to actually win the contest that they entered in. Time constraints are ever present and people send the mass emails out. If you don't like the mass emails, simply delete them or use a filtering system so that the mass emails are not bothering you. Personally, I like seeing the emails and how strong the musician is for taking the effort to try and let everyone know what they have done. The purpose of the contest is to gather support and push your song into the stratosphere. Support your artist and post positive articles for them or do a review. Slamming a person on their page is not the best method and you are giving the person you don't like publicity. You have inadvertently supported the other side. Finally, the contest may be rigged and only time will tell if that is true. I have to believe that the system is fair otherwise the site has huge problems---and I love gather's community. It boils down to this: The larger your fan base the greater your votes will be. Plain and simple.

I'm not going to say what inspired this article because I think it was a misinterpretation on all parties involved. You may even figure out my inspiration and post a response on this article. I'm not playing the role of super delegate by posting my choice on my group or page because everyone deserves to make their own conclusions.

On a closing note, Music like any other form of art is a passionate form of expression. Enjoy what you like and relax, life is just too short to be so worried about something that you won't remember ten years from now. Ok, go ahead and post your responses and rate the article below if you want. Please vote for your contestants and keep it clean--no hitting below the belt. If you don't like a person's music don't post that on this article because it is about a general situation. I will take out negative mud slinging on this article because it is not intended for that.